Vendange Tardive

Vendange Tardive (VT) is a particular classification for Alsace wines signifying a late-harvest wine with a greater-than-usual concentration of natural sugars which is the result of the grapes having achieved minimum required ripeness levels (the top producers consistently exceed these). Vendange Tardive translates as ‘late harvest’. Its wines can vary from almost dry to very sweet.

Learn more about Vendange Tardive

Vendange Tardive (VT) is a particular classification for Alsace wines signifying a late-harvest wine with a greater-than-usual concentration of natural sugars which is the result of the grapes having achieved minimum required ripeness levels (the top producers consistently exceed these). Vendange Tardive translates as ‘late harvest’. Its wines can vary from almost dry to very sweet.

The official criteria for a wine to qualify as a VT are:

A minimum grape must weight equivalent to 15.3 percent potential alcohol for Gewürztraminer and Pinot Gris, and 14 percent potential alcohol for Riesling and Muscat.

No chaptalisation or acidification.

Gewürztraminer is ideally suited for vendange tardive wines, as it can easily reach high sugar levels. Vendage Tardive Riesling and Pinot Gris less frequent, but with greater acidity to balance the sweetness, such wines can be long-lived. Muscat Vendange Tardive wines are rare.

This steep sloped, marl and gypsum sun-trap consistently produces one of the regions most emphatic Pinot Gris, never more so than in 2006 where despite trickier conditions Olivier selected a miniscule crop to deliver a 50% botrytised beauty, complete with brilliant quince, beeswax, apricot notes on the nose and a perfectly poised, finely textured honey and nectarine palate. Fabulous! At 114 grams of residuel sugar, a pudding in its own right.(David Berry Green ) Compelling and rich without ever being cloying, this late harvest wine shows all the benefits of extended hang time on the vine. Opulent Pinot Gris floral and fruit aromas on the nose foretell of things to come. The first burst of nectarine and quince segue shamelessly into rich, honied apricots with not a hint of the stickiness often associated with such things. With time in the mouth the minerality of this wonderful vineyard, Clos Jebsal, shows through and keeps things fresh, the flavours linger into the best greengage confit you've never imagined, until this point! I can very happily hold this up as the finest example of winemaking I've seen from Alsace in 2006. Drink with Gooseberry fool, anything containing stewed fruit, or rather surprisingly, a big handful of lightly salted nuts!(Rob Whitehead, London Shop, January 2011)

Vendange Tardive is a quality classification for Alsace wines that signifies a later harvest with greater-than-usual concentration of natural sugars. This has a discreet nose, like many Jebsal, the heavy marl soil shuts the wine down in its youth but this will improve with further ageing. This is a gorgeous honeyed wine with lots of fruits such as melon, peach and orange. Full bodied, sweet and unctuous. You must try this VT, even more so since there was no Selection de Grains Noble (SGN) made in 2012, meaning that all of the best late harvest fruit went into this wine.Laura Atkinson-Godwin, Private Account Manager

Clos Jebsal is a single vineyard in Turkheim (1.3 ha), Alsace. The first written reference of Jebsal dates back to a deed of sale from the 16th century. Located on a steep escarpment, it was left abandoned until 1982 when Leonard Humbrecht finally managed to reunite all the small parcels and restore the lieu-dit to its entirety.

The name Jebsal refers to gypsum, the important geological component of this vineyard alongside a geological fault of grey marl limestone and Keuper, rich in clay. The small clos is very steep (50%) with numerous terraces facing due south which benefits from a very warm microclimate, hidden and protected from the northerly winds. The grey marl soils have good water retention capacity which prevents hydric stress, yielding wines with beautiful balanced acidities.

The wines from Clos Jebsal are discreet in their youth, often marked with flinty or smoky aromas. The expression of fruit linked to the concentration by botrytis is coaxed out with some time in bottle, a minimum of ten years is recommended to allow for the development of the true expression of Clos Jebsal.